What has America done?

The Americans have done awful things to the Native Americans. The Native Americans deserve to be payed back because of the injustices we’ve done to them such as killing 90 percent of the Native Americans, making them travel the trail of tears, and blocking them away on reservations. The American federal government will repay them by giving them some of their land back rather than money. Read below to find out why!

The Western Expansion affected the lives of Native Americans because the federal government took away their home and land.Santana,Chief of the Kiowas,in 1867 said, “I see... soldiers here on its banks...cut down my timber; kill my buffalo… my heart feels like bursting.” The federal government made a western expansion which crushed the lives of the Native Americans. The federal government took away their family, their land was like family to them. The Natives are upset because Americans have claimed the land and made it theirs. American soldiers on their land, Americans cutting down their timber for fires, and the deaths of many buffalo, food for the natives. All of it, gone.

S.G. Colley,U.S. Indian Agent,reported that the Americans would, “mangle and manipulate them in the most horrible manner.” When the Native Americans were moved it was a harsh time. Some wouldn’t leave just because they were told, “move west so we can have your land”. The Americans had to think of  another way of approaching it. The federal government controlled the minds of the native americans to have them move west. This way, the natives thought that they were going to eventually come back to their home… but they never did.

Others might say that Native Americans would succeed more if they have money rather than land, however this isn’t true because many Natives have said that they would rather their land back because they believe that money can’t buy their dignity and self respect that they deserve. Tammy Tillotson, a freelance writer, said in an article,“The belief that “money can buy anything” is absurd and disgusting. Money cannot buy or return dignity and self-respect.”  Most Americans think that money can buy you anything. But in the eyes of the Natives, the land that we have stepped on is their relatives. We cannot give them money out of pity of them being in poverty in reservations now. "You can see that the Sioux are in a hopeless situation, because of the location of their reservation. It’s out in the middle of nowhere South Dakota. There is no way for people to make a living there.” It’ll just make it seem as if Americans are feeling bad. Like said before, money can’t buy everything. It cannot buy family, or respect. And it sure won’t buy the Natives happiness. They just want their land back, their life back. We must repay them for all that we have made them do. We cannot let them stay in such horrible conditions like this. Devastating things... just left and forgotten.

Now you have realized what the Americans have done to the Natives. We should go and ask the government how we can repay the Natives in the form of land. Together we can make a difference for the lives of the Native Americans. Let’s go retrieve the land!!